Llama Bob
member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
- 2,258
No doubt the .325 WSM was the bastard child of the WSM line. Everyone was expecting a .338 WSM and instead got an 8mm WSM with a funny name given that nothing about the cartridge was .325 in size - bullet diameter is .323, same as the JS M98 and the 8mm Remington Mag. Cynics (including several in print) accused Winchester of trying to dupe gullible gun buyers into thinking it was "almost" a .338.
That was 13 years ago.
Since then, of the 4 WSM cartridges the .270 and .300 have cemented themselves as popular. The 7mm WSM has been dropped despite arguably being the most useful of the small bore WSMs when hand loaded but lives on with a population of enthusiasts. And the 325 continues to be cataloged, neither a raging success nor dropped. That suggests it outsold the 7mm WSM, shocking given that no 8mm caliber in new production rifles previously ever sold worth beans in the US.
I think the answer lies with the field having essentially been swept of medium bore magnums suitable for use in a light rifle. The .350 Remington Mag is thoroughly dead. The .376 Steyr never really did anything. The .338 RCM came and went with almost no one noticing outside Alaska. The short Lazerroni catridges even many gun nuts have never actually seen. All that's left on the field is the .338 WM, which comes in rifles the better part of a pound heavier than the .325, and still manages to have notably worse recoil at the same bullet weights.
And the Winchester engineers really were right about the 325. It does match the .338WM factory performance despite spotting the typical 338 two inches of barrel. 2000s at 2900+, 220s at 2800+ and 250s at 2700+ with temp insensitive powers (Retumbo and RL-23 for the heavies). Since the introduction Woodleigh has made some reasonably slick heavy bullets that close the BC gap to .308 caliber fairly effectively too. These 400-500 yard elk shots reasonable. So it's not an "almost" .338 - it's got the same power and reach as a .338, but with higher-SD slightly smaller bore projectiles.
Results in the field have been consistently good with the Partitions, TSXs, Weldcores, A-frames, and Accubonds.
So strangely Winchester's oddball has found itself the most powerful round readily available in a light, short action rifle. For a brown bear, bison, moose, or even elk hunts where a lot of walking is involved they seem to have a winner, albeit a winner of interest only to a small number of hunters. I think a light 325 may also be the best possible bear defense rifle when loaded with the 250gr Weldcore.
That was 13 years ago.
Since then, of the 4 WSM cartridges the .270 and .300 have cemented themselves as popular. The 7mm WSM has been dropped despite arguably being the most useful of the small bore WSMs when hand loaded but lives on with a population of enthusiasts. And the 325 continues to be cataloged, neither a raging success nor dropped. That suggests it outsold the 7mm WSM, shocking given that no 8mm caliber in new production rifles previously ever sold worth beans in the US.
I think the answer lies with the field having essentially been swept of medium bore magnums suitable for use in a light rifle. The .350 Remington Mag is thoroughly dead. The .376 Steyr never really did anything. The .338 RCM came and went with almost no one noticing outside Alaska. The short Lazerroni catridges even many gun nuts have never actually seen. All that's left on the field is the .338 WM, which comes in rifles the better part of a pound heavier than the .325, and still manages to have notably worse recoil at the same bullet weights.
And the Winchester engineers really were right about the 325. It does match the .338WM factory performance despite spotting the typical 338 two inches of barrel. 2000s at 2900+, 220s at 2800+ and 250s at 2700+ with temp insensitive powers (Retumbo and RL-23 for the heavies). Since the introduction Woodleigh has made some reasonably slick heavy bullets that close the BC gap to .308 caliber fairly effectively too. These 400-500 yard elk shots reasonable. So it's not an "almost" .338 - it's got the same power and reach as a .338, but with higher-SD slightly smaller bore projectiles.
Results in the field have been consistently good with the Partitions, TSXs, Weldcores, A-frames, and Accubonds.
So strangely Winchester's oddball has found itself the most powerful round readily available in a light, short action rifle. For a brown bear, bison, moose, or even elk hunts where a lot of walking is involved they seem to have a winner, albeit a winner of interest only to a small number of hunters. I think a light 325 may also be the best possible bear defense rifle when loaded with the 250gr Weldcore.
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